Sharing a delicious fall recipe for copycat Panera soup! This is dairy-free and SO delicious with a drizzle of olive oil and some roasted chickpeas on top. 

Hi friends! How’s the morning going so far? I hope you’re enjoying the day! I have a packed day with coaching appointments (YAY!) and excited to take a yoga class this morning. I hope you have a lovely day ahead.

Something that made me chuckle a bit recently: the Pilot said, “Ohhhh, soup season is here”

I was like… soup season is ALWAYS here.

I get what he’s saying. Some people like to enjoy warm and cozy bowls of soup during certain times of the year, like when it’s chillier outside. I’ve never fully understood because you can find me with a piping bowl of soup on a scorching summer day. Soup fan for life, no matter the weather or season.

I feel like soup is the PERFECT meal. It’s an easy way to get in a ton of nutrients, protein, it’s super satisfying, and there’s nothing like some fresh sourdough or cornbread dipped into soup or chili. I have quite a few recipes on the blog but was excited to make a version of Panera’s Autumn Soup. It’s dairy-free, the ingredients are so inexpensive, and it packs a ton of nutrients and fall flavor.

Let me know if you give it a try!

Panera Copycat Autumn Soup (dairy-free)

Ingredients:

Whole butternut squash

3-4 medium peeled, cooked sweet potatoes

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 onion

4 carrots

1 carton of veggie broth

can of coconut milk

nutmeg

cinnamon

salt and pepper

Instructions:

Step 1

Cook the butternut squash. Cut it in half, remove the seeds, and place in the Instant Pot with 2 inches of water, and cook for 12 minutes on manual. Remove the squash, drain the Instant Pot, and set aside to cool slightly.

Step 2

Next, add the broth, onion, carrots, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper to the Instant Pot. Cook for 12 minutes on manual.

Step 3

Do a quick release, and then stir in the butternut squash (if you use a spoon to scoop it out from the skin, it should come out easily), sweet potatoes, and coconut milk. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.

Step 4

Adjust seasonings as needed. Ours needed a bit more salt and cinnamon.

Step 5

Top with a

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you had an amazing weekend! I’m sorry I disappeared on ya for Friday Faves. We got our stair railing replaced (it looks amazing!) but they had to spray the clear coat as the final step. We left the house because I didn’t want everyone to breathe in the fumes. I had Maisey with me all day and we went to juice with a friend, picked up the girls at school, and spent the rest of the afternoon at madre’s house. Thankfully by dinnertime, the smell was gone, and the stair upgrade has made a huge difference in our entryway.

What were you up to this weekend? Any fun fall activities?

Thoughts on a Monday

I’m feeling a little all over the place today, so just thought I’d share some random thoughts on a Monday.

– Fall candle season is officially here!

This is one I picked up recently and it smells like a dream:

– Halloween Decor

We also decorated for Halloween and have this 13-ft Jack Skellington to greet delivery drivers and eventually trick-or-treaters. 😉

– Hot Yoga Class

I took a hot yoga class the other day and was thinking about the Bikram yoga days of yore, which was my original intro to hot yoga. When we lived in Valdosta, I’d occasionally drive two hours with a friend to take Bikram classes in Jacksonville, and loved taking them when we would visit Orlando or Atlanta.

While Bikram the person has a pretty icky backstory – the Netflix documentary is wild, and unfortunately not super surprising – the Bikram yoga method also has me raising my eyebrows two decades later.

It makes me cringe to think that the rooms were CARPETED (hi mold and germ city), and during one of my first classes, I was publicly shamed for drinking water before Eagle pose. Also, an instructor once told me that if I breathed through my mouth during class, it would turn my teeth yellow. And I believed her lol.

–

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Cade’s Chicken Gyros

For Cade’s chicken gyros, the chicken is marinated in a tangy yogurt sauce loaded with garlic, lemon, fresh herbs and spices. Then it is baked and piled into soft pita bread and topped with veggies, feta and creamy tzatziki sauce!

Alright, so Cade has reentered the kitchen and I’m beyond thrilled because he knocked this one out of the park!! I cannot get enough of the juicy, succulent chicken and I’m just sure we can find more uses for it than just gyros. Scroll down to see some of my ideas.

How to Pronounce Gyros

Let’s start with how NOT to say “gyros”…basically don’t say it how it looks! It is not pronounced jai-rohs. Though I’m sure everyone would know what you were ordering if you did say it that way. The correct way to pronounce “gyros” is yee-rohs.

What is a Greek Gyro?

A gyro is sandwich typically made with either lamb, pork, beef or chicken (or some combination of the those) on pita bread topped with tomato, red onion, lettuce and tzatziki sauce. It’s eaten like a wrap. It makes a great lunch or dinner.

Ingredients for Chicken Gyros

Here is a brief overview of the ingredients you will need for this gyro recipe. The measurements of each can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

• Chicken Thighs: You want them to be boneless and skinless and chicken breasts also work fine. Chicken thighs just tend to have more flavor.
• Plain Greek Yogurt: adds flavor to the marinade and helps tenderize the meat. It also makes the marinade thick so it sticks to the chicken when you bake it.
• Garlic: the purpose for garlic is always to add flavor and you’ll want a lot of it in this recipe!
• Olive Oil: adds richness to the marinade and also helps it not stick when baking
• White Wine Vinegar: adds tanginess and flavor
• Lemons: fresh is a must and you’ll want the juice and zest for maximum flavor
• Oregano: fresh is definitely preferred here, if you have to use dried then use 1 teaspoon
• Parsley: same story as the oregano
• Herbs de Provence: Italian seasoning also works too, and this is a dried herb blend
• Salt: adds flavor
• Smoked Paprika: adds a delicious smokiness to the chicken
• Black Pepper: adds flavor and a little heat
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: use as much or as little as you want for the heat on the chicken

For the Gyros:

• Small Campari Tomatoes: You could use type of tomato you want but I love the size and flavor of the campari tomatoes!
• Red Onion: slice them super thin, they add so much flavor and beautiful color to the gyros
• Parsley: adds a delicious pop of freshness to the finished gyro
• Pita Flatbreads: you can buy these at the groce

Puff pastry baklava bites are delightful, bite-sized treats that offer a modern twist on the traditional Greek dessert, baklava. These miniature pastries are made by filling buttery, flaky puff pastry cups with a sweet honey and nut filling.

About 20 years ago, my brother-in-law introduced me to baklava by way of a Christmas gift. It was his favorite food at the time, so we picked up an enormous tray of baklava and carefully gift-wrapped it for him.

On Christmas Eve, he opened his gift and the joy was palpable. He shared it with us and I loved it from the first bite. Since then, I’ve happily enjoyed baklava at every opportunity.

Baklava with Puff Pastry

My friend Lynne made this baklava while visiting me once upon a time (and I happily devoured the delicious results) but I’ve never so much as tried my hand at making it at home. As you already know, I rarely spend that kind of time on a single recipe. (Not that it never happens, but it’s a rarity for sure.)

The moment I saw Baklava Bites in the Brilliant Bites cookbook, I knew I’d be making them as soon as possible. It’s such a smart idea! Flaky, buttery, puff pastry forms the shell for an irresistible filling of roasted nuts, honey, and warm spices.

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Healthy Apple Fritter Baked Oatmeal

I’m am obsessed with apple fritters. I am obsessed with baked oatmeal. So I mashed the two together in a healthy apple fritter baked oatmeal and it is rockstar status!

Our first Saturday morning without an ounce of errands or unpacking and we needed a good, old fashioned family breakfast and surprisingly one of the kiddos had asked for oatmeal so obviously I had to go all out.

Oh dear, so begins another obsession. Get ready, folks because I’m about to start creating 50 different versions of baked oatmeal recipes.

What flavor combination would you like next?

When we had finally settled into a new city back in August I was dragging my feet to get cooking again. I’d barely cooked real meals all summer due to packing and now most of our kitchen stuff is in a storage unit and it’s been hard to find the motivation to get going again. But alas, I also detest not having sit down family dinners or eating out all the time, so I put on my big girl pants and totally eased into it. No jumping in when you’re exhausted from life, am I right?

What better way to ease in than to make breakfast for dinner recipes?

This healthy breakfast recipe is the perfect solution and came about from me winging it with random pantry ingredients. But my goodness, when you have both a 16 and 6 year old raving over OATMEAL you know you’ve found a winner! 

Ingredients for Apple Fritter Baked Oatmeal

In the next section, I’m going to go into how to make this simple breakfast recipe, but first thing’s first, here are the ingredients you will need:

• Old Fashioned Oats – old fashioned really do work the best, instant oats get too soggy and steel cut outs don’t soften up enough
• Eggs – bind the baked oatmeal together
• Milk – you can use any kind of milk you want
• Apple Butter (or Applesauce) – apple butter adds a little extra richness and buttery flavor, but applesauce works just great too
• Maple Syrup – pure maple syrup is preferred
• Vanilla – adds the best flavor
• Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Allspice – all the warm fall spices that go so well with apples
• Salt – enhances all the flavors
• Baking Soda – gives the baked oatmeal some rise and fluffiness
• Golden Raisins – regular raisins will work fine too, I just prefer the flavor of golden raisins
• Sliced Almonds (optional) – sometimes I include them and sometimes I don’t, they add some nice crunch and protein
• Minced Dried Apples – be sure to get dried apples

For the Glaze

• Powdered Sugar – all the swe